Poles deliver aid to flooded towns and villages in Ukraine

VOLUNTEERS FROM UKRAINE AND PCPM HELP FROM THE FIRST HOURS

Just a few hours after the dam in Novaya Kakhovka broke, PCPM Foundation staff and Ukrainian volunteers were already delivering humanitarian aid to evacuated flood victims. And thanks to an efficiently organized operation, the foundation was able to reach the flooded villages with aid the very next day. Food aid and hygiene packages were distributed by volunteers to evacuated residents of flooded villages at the transit point in Mykolaiv. In addition, on the exit route from Kherson, volunteers set up another point where aid is still being distributed. At the request of Kherson authorities, the PCPM Foundation provided underwear, socks, disposable dishes and paper towels. These will go to a temporary residence in Kherson for 150 people evacuated from the city’s flooded districts. The Ostrov district, which is entirely underwater, has suffered the most.

The shortage of drinking water was remedied fairly quickly. The flood situation is improving very slowly, but the damage and needs are increasing. Evacuated areas are under fire, which does not facilitate either the evacuation itself or the delivery of aid to the site.

Only boats or pontoons manage to reach the flooded villages. Some towns and villages are still cut off by water. Residents there gather on the upper floors of their homes, often wearing only what they had worn. – Unfortunately, it is hard to buy goods required by flood victims. There aren’t many of them in stores or warehouses, and if there are, they disappear immediately – warns Anna Radecka of the PCPM Foundation, which coordinates the transfer of PCPM aid from Poland. Both Ukrainian volunteers and local emergency services are helping in its distribution.

To the villages in the Snigurivka area, the PCPM Foundation has delivered by boat drinking water and waterboot, so needed for the cleanup and drying of flooded houses. PCPM experts, who have already worked on similar disasters, predict that it will only be 4-5 days before the water subsides enough to begin cleaning up flooded farms. In the Snigurovka region, 13 villages have been flooded. 351 houses are completely flooded. It is PCPM that is focusing on helping the region.

HIGH NEEDS IN MANY FLOODED TOWNS AND SHELLING OF EVACUATED VILLAGES

The PCPM Foundation will be delivering additional aid over the next few days. – Families are to receive blankets, bedding, water purification pills, large strong garbage bags, Anna Radecka enumerates. – The regional authorities are even asking us for body bags for people and animals, the Polish coordinator summarizes the needs.

In addition, the PCPM Foundation wants to provide water to the village of Veseloie. It is one of two villages in the Novaya Kachovka region, located on the Ukrainian-controlled side of the Dnieper River. There, the wave overflowed 300 houses. The village is unfortunately under constant fire, making it difficult not only to deliver aid, but also to evacuate residents.

In the near future, the PCPM Foundation will send aid packages to partially flooded villages: Poniativka, Igulets, Inghulovka, Lymanets, Ulianivka) and Oleksandrivka, Stanislav, Sofiroka Balka.

In order to deliver this aid in the quantity needed, support from Polish donors is needed. That’s why the PCPM Foundation has launched a fundraiser to purchase the most necessary aid.